Environment

The Environmental Center at the University of North Florida will kick off the start of RecycleMania Monday, Feb. 7, with an inter-residence hall recycling competition in an effort to increase recycling and overall waste reduction on campus.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is currently monitoring a Virulent Exotic Newcastle Disease diagnosis which occurred in Cormorants in Pinellas County last week. Exotic Newcastle Disease is an extremely contagious and fatal foreign avian disease that affects most bird species but is not life threatening to humans. Human contact with Exotic Newcastle Disease may cause minor irritations such as pink eye or skin irritations.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) invites high school art students across the state to participate in a contest to create a piece of manatee artwork that will be used on the 2011-2012 manatee decal.

Students in grades 9-12 in Florida should coordinate with their school’s art teacher to submit the artwork, because each school may submit no more than five entries. Home-schooled students also are eligible to enter the contest. Contest details and forms are available online at MyFWC.com/Manatee.

The recreational harvest of snook will close in all Atlantic coastal and inland waters, including Lake Okeechobee and the Kissimmee River, beginning on Dec. 15. The annual winter harvest season closure of snook in these areas, which normally ends on Feb. 1, has been extended until Sept. 1, 2011, by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) due to the prolonged cold weather that impacted snook in Florida earlier this year.

Florida Division of Emergency Management officials are again urging all residents and visitors throughout Florida to prepare for temperatures near or below the freezing mark tonight through Wednesday morning. The National Weather Service has issued a Hard Freeze Warning for all of North and Central Florida, and also for Glades, Hendry and Palm Beach counties. A Freeze Warning has also been issued for the rest of South Florida. The entire state is under either a Wind Chill Advisory or Warning, depending on the location.

NOAA Fisheries Service extended the prohibition of commercial and recreational fishing for red snapper in all federal waters of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and the Atlantic coast of Florida. It is illegal to fish for, possess, or harvest red snapper from these waters.